158 areas under state of calamity

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 158 areas across the country have declared a state of calamity in the aftermath of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said yesterday.

The Bicol region has the highest number of areas placed under a state of calamity with 78, followed by Calabarzon with 63 and Eastern Visayas with 13.

The provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Catanduanes as well as Bulan in Sorsogon are currently under a state of calamity.

Amid this development, the death toll due to Kristine’s onslaught has risen to 90, according to the NDRRMC.

NDRRMC spokesman Edgar Posadas said the number of reported deaths is still up for validation to determine if the causes are related to the storm.

“They were reported. These are running real-time count,” Posadas said in an interview over Teleradyo Serbisyo.

In an earlier interview over radio station dzBB, Office of Civil Defense administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said the death toll was at 85 while 41 were missing.

In Calabarzon, 48 deaths have been recorded while 28 have been reported in Bicol.

The causes of death of the 85 individuals will still be validated if these were due to the effects of the storm.

Many of the casualties were caused by landslides and flooding, according to Nepomuceno.

In its report, the NDRRMC said a total of 1,415,438 families, accounting for 5,784,298 individuals, have been impacted by Kristine nationwide.

The 2.5 million people affected are from Bicol alone; 936,951 are from Central Luzon and 685,049 from Eastern Visayas.

In the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, more than 488,000 people are also affected.

The report said 91,189 families are in 7,484 evacuation centers, all of whom had already received assistance, while 48,250 families are taking shelter in other places and had received external support.

In the agriculture sector, Kristine’s damage has swelled to P3.11 billion amid the extent of the devastation of the cyclone, according to latest data from the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Based on the latest report from the DA’s Operations Center as of 9 a.m. yesterday, the damage and losses in the